CleanQuote gives us a perfect overview of our entire fleet’s cleaning inventory
Andreas Jensen, Operations Manager for a leading dry bulk shipping company, Western Bulk, was kind enough to sit down and talk with us about his experiences using CleanQuote. From everything to receiving quotes for cleaning supplies and how he uses the Operator module to keep track of vessel’s cleaning inventory. Andreas has been a frequent user of CleanQuote since his first introduction.
“I use CleanQuote Operator every time I take over a vessel before it begins its journey. It
establishes a foundation for what’s currently onboard and what I need to acquire for them. It
makes the entire trip more manageable. “
Western Bulk’s Operation Manager, Andreas Jensen, optimizes vessel cleaning inventory with CleanQuote’s ROB feature for their global fleet.
Western Bulk is a shipping company that operates and charters a fleet of 120-160 vessels worldwide. As an Operation Manager, Andreas uses the ROB (Remaining-On-Board) feature every time he takes on a vessel. Using the ROB feature, the CleanQuote platform sends an automated request to the vessel’s captain, asking him to fill out a complete inventory of all cleaning-related materials, such as high-pressure cleaners and chemicals.
The overview of, e.g., cleaning chemicals helps Andreas estimate exactly how much more is needed to complete the vessel’s journey, and Andreas praises the feature that lets him send out a request directly from the ROB. If he sets up a minimum stock, he can quickly see if there are any missing items before it’s too late to stock up, saving Andreas and Western Bulk a lot of work and helping them get just the right amount.
“The fact that logs of all previously bought items are stored in CleanQuote helps me rationalize why we perhaps shouldn’t buy yet another HP machine, and that’s saving us quite a few dollars over time.”
Single click to multiple suppliers
A feature that Andreas is very fond of and often uses is the create request feature. Where requests for hold cleaning supplies, shore cleaning gangs, and underwater services can be made to open the markets as his vessels enter ports all over the world. Andreas would before CleanQuote only rely on a few suppliers that may not have been able to deliver to the port in question, but with CleanQuote, Andreas sends the same request with a single click to multiple suppliers and receives quotes from companies that he didn’t even know existed.
“I have tried several times – especially in Asia – sending requests through CleanQuote and receiving quotes from suppliers I didn’t know but that were cheaper AND faster than the others. I trust CleanQuote’s vetting process and haven’t run into any problems so far. I just compare prices on the quotes and if all items meet my demand, I can choose the cheapest or fastest option. It’s quite simple, actually.”
Keeping the hull clean is sound investment
As a long-time user of CleanQuote, Andreas tells us that he is paying close attention to the new features in CleanQuote making it possible for him to book underwater inspections and cleanings. As a guiding rule, at Western Bulk, they want to have the hull inspected and the propeller cleaned once every 3 months on all their long-time chartered vessels. Keeping the hull clean is, according to Andreas, a sound investment as the vessel is much more efficient with a clean hull. Andreas said to us that he looks forward to trying out CleanQuote’s options in this regard too. In conclusion, CleanQuote’s Operator Module has proven to be an efficient solution for Western Bulk in managing their chemical requests and quotations. The platform’s ability to streamline the request/quote process with suppliers, manage multiple quotations in one place, and automate manual processes has saved the company time, effort, and costs.
“We have been very satisfied with the CleanQuote Operator Module. It has simplified our work processes and made vessel cleaning an easy task”
About Western Bulk
Western Bulk is a global ship operator in the Ultramax to Handyside segments. With more than 35 years of experience, they have 5 offices worldwide located in Oslo, Singapore, Dubai, Santiago and Seattle. They are operating 120-160 vessels carrying dry cargo all around the world.
Read more about Western Bulk
